The Fall Before Flight

by L.M. Halloran

This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.” Rumi

“Everyone’s broken. Some of us are just better at gluing the pieces back together.” I laugh, still shaking. Teeth chattering. Unhinged.

you. Damn you, Amelia. Damn your sarcasm, your lies, your eyes that tell me more than your mouth ever has, your scent that drives me crazy, and your beautiful, wounded heart. You’re goddamn perfect and I’m going straight to hell.” And he kisses me.

“You don’t see it, but we do. Your problem—if you have one—is that you’re too alive. When the rest of us tried to hide and ignore our broken wings, you tried to fly with them.”

Regret lives in the past and fear in the future, but neither exist in the present. Let’s live in the moment, one day at a time.”

Gaze on my mouth, his thumb strokes lightly across my lips. I watch his eyelashes flutter and feel the beginnings of something dangerous. So, so dangerous. “Amelia,” he whispers. His eyes lift to mine, indigo in the candlelight. “I want you so much.” Danger has never sounded so good.

“You aren’t—have never been—the destructive person you think you are. You’re… a force of nature. A perfect wave. Everyone who has tried to ride that wave has wiped out, but mark my words, every one of them would give anything to ride it again. Even for a few seconds.”

“Your hair hasn’t been brushed in days. You’re wearing a bright-red shirt, yellow shorts, and socks with sandals. You’re a retirement home in Florida.”

LOL!!